One of these three Apple executives will probably be Tim Cook's replacement
Whenever Tim Cook retires as Apple CEO, there are now several obvious contenders for the role -- but it may all come down to exactly when he steps away.
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If there is one thing more certain than that current Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams will not replace Tim Cook, it's that someone from within the company will. Williams was considered a favorite until he announced his retirement, but Apple almost always promotes from within.
It needs to, as well, because the pool of potential CEOs capable of running a multi-trillion-dollar company is small. The odds, too, are that any CEO appointed from outside Apple would want to change the company just to put their mark on it.
Whereas many of the current Apple executives have a strong case to succeed Cook -- and partly because they have each already put their mark on the company.
It's pretty certain that Apple has already chosen his successor. But until the announcement comes, it's looking like there are three candidates in the lead.
Craig Federighi
Easily the highest-profile Apple executive there is, Federighi also has the advantage of extensive time both inside and outside of Apple. He worked at NeXT for one thing, but he was also the chief technology officer at ecommerce firm Ariba.
Craig Federighi -- image credit: Apple
Within Apple, he is now senior vice president of software engineering, meaning that he is in overall charge of iOS and macOS. He's also been practically the face of Apple Intelligence, for better or worse.
Craig Federighi is now 56 years old, which helps make him a prime candidate -- if Cook steps down now. Should Cook stick to his 2021 statement about probably retiring in the next ten years, Federighi might be in his sixties, and there are younger candidates.
This is a situation where age has the benefit of immense experience within the company, but also shortens the amount of time it might be before the next successor is needed.
John Ternus
As senior vice president of hardware engineering, Ternus is Federighi's equivalent and has at least a similar track record in overseeing Apple devices. This most recently means that he's taken over Apple's robotics team, which previously reported to Apple Intelligence executive John Giannandrea.
John Ternus -- image credit: Apple
Ternus has overseen the introduction of AirPods, and every version of the iPad. He's also overseen the move from Intel to Apple Silicon.
Plus, Ternus is 50 years old, making him the youngest of the three most likely candidates.
Greg Joswiak
Greg Joswiak, aged 61, has become the face of the iPhone as he has introduced the Pro models of each range for several years. He's the senior vice president of worldwide marketing, which is perhaps both a plus and a minus.
Greg Joswiak -- image credit: Apple
It means he hasn't had the direct, hands-on control of either software like Craig Federighi, or hardware like John Ternus. But he has arguably a broader overview of Apple than either of them, plus he has a history of working with developers to support the Mac.
There are other choices
These three are most likely because they are the highest-profile people in the current leadership roles at Apple. But one reason Jeff Williams was considered a favorite was that he was Chief Operating Officer (COO), and that role requires being hands-on with just about every possible element of the whole company.
Williams is being replaced by Sabih Khan, 59, who does not have the same public profile yet, but has been working at Apple since 1995. Due to the nature of the COO role, it is Khan who will be expected to step in for Cook, just as Cook did for Steve Jobs.
Then there is Eddy Cue, 60, who has been at the forefront of Apple Services -- an area that the company has consciously been growing for the last many years.
Or there is Deirdre O'Brien, who is believed to be around 59. She's now the senior vice president of retail and people, meaning that she oversees all of the Apple Stores.
She does have a bad reputation for being anti-union, but has been with Apple for over 35 years -- and is an example of why Apple promotes from within.
O'Brien's predecessor was Angela Ahrendts, who was recruited from outside Apple and appears to have left the moment her initial contract was up.
Apple does definitely like to promote its existing executives, and it makes a lot of sense, given the sheer scale and complexity of the company.
Even if Cook were to undertake some kind of phased retirement, it's still an enormous amount for any new CEO to learn, and Apple does not have the time for any slow transition.
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Comments
Cue is too old and so many (lost) legal battles. Joswiak “oh so Pro” - Apple need product before marketing - no Sculley II. Deidre and her Office Only policy: She should go meet Zuckerberg at a Coldplay concert.
No bias there.
with Cook, it was and had been obvious for a while - at least to those on the inside.
Gives them good scope for the CFO style positions to have the same ability to have a unique public face in order to find the next successor.
Apple has always been king of the iteration. It sees what can or does exist and creates an ideal version that people actually want. Apple is almost never first, but it does often achieve best.
I'm still not sure iPhone Fold will ever release. Foldables are an expensive fad with a tiny niche -- a combination that doesn't really work for Apple's iPhone where it is fine with Mac. All the foldables to date are hacky prototypes people spend money on. Android still isn't truly optimized for the experience. And that's where Apple will win if they do release a foldable: the OS will truly be built for the device in a way no other foldable has had.
Apple Vision Pro? While we don't know what Apple's success metric is for the product, they surely crossed it. Compared to the market, it is a much better headset than what competitors offer, and with a price tag that warrants the specs. Meta couldn't hope to compete on the high end, so it doesn't. No one else has built a productivity platform in spatial computing because it is technically difficult to pull off. It's why every other headset focuses on games. As far as I can see, Apple Vision Pro is the only product that exists as a productivity platform, nascent gaming platform, and has high specs and hardware that'll last. Just the price gap alone suggests Apple Vision Pro made plenty of money in its first year compared to the slowly dying Meta Quest platform. We've only just begun to see what Apple is doing in the space, meanwhile Meta's entire financial backing is focused on pursuing another fictional technology.
i sense that Apple would benefit from a 1997 Steve Jobs like entrance and transformation.
Apple has had decades of incredible profits and share price growth, only to stagnate and likely suffer from common corporate malaise. It would not be hard to imagine most staffers cruise their stock options rather than want to change the world.
Unpopular opinion - poach someone very senior from Tesla.
implement Elons work ethic and relentless innovation ethos.
i doubt you can get Elon but you can potentially get one of his protégées.